RE: [Harp-L] acoustic playing

[Steve Shaw <moorcot@xxxxxxx>]

> Acoustic playing depends a lot on the player the situation
> and sometimes the harmonica model and the room acoustics.
>
> I heard Robert Bonfiglio play with cello and two violins.
> One might have been viola it was a long time ago.
> It was in a church in New York city. NO mics and Robert
> was on an even par with everyone.
>
> I find that I can easily over power a classical guitar.
> The cbh 2016 was made for chamber music to project.
>
> Diggs

When I'm playing unamplified with my band (me, fiddle, mando, banjo, guitar) the chemistry between us ensures that I can be heard.  But I nearly always have my amplified-if-necessary option to hand (tiny Suzuki palm mic and little battery amp set to clean) and don't hesitate to use it if necessary.  Last night in a pub gig I played quite a lot unamplified, but when a large party of Dutch tourists hell-bent on enjoying themselves started to dance and whoop to the jigs and reels, it was on with the amp.  There has to be some point to my presence, and it's nowt to do with big ego or desire to dominate (the other blokes would rapidly give me the boot if I tried any of that).   A relatively quiet melody instrument is the first thing to get lost in the hubbub.   I've worked very hard on unforced playing to give myself maximum projection (my harps last six times longer than they used to), and now, when I'm showing someone something on the harmonica, my "loudness" compared to them is usually the first thing they comment on.  Even so, you can't always cut through even when everyone else is acoustic.  With the best will in the world I can't achieve the same projection on my big double-sided Echo tremolo as I can on my 10-hole harps (which I play at least 75% of the time).   I'm certain that Robert and his chamber ensemble or symphony orchestra colleagues have that same chemistry that enables them to be sympathetic to one another, that they're using their listening skills to the utmost, and that they are playing to a quiet audience.  All that combines with his mighty projection to give a balanced aural experience for the audience, who will also be playing their part by focusing in on one instrument or the other at various points in the performance. You don't hear like a microphone hears just as you don't see like a camera sees.  We have a wonderful processing and discriminating tool called a brain.  When I played in some traditional pub sessions in Dublin there was an aura of quiet around the musicians' table, and there was no sense that what we were doing was in any way a "performance."  We were listening attentively to each other and reacting accordingly, musically-speaking, and there was simply no call for amplification, even with five or six other musicans.  It's an intricate and sensitive experience when it's at its best.  I've played harmonica unamplified in large school halls along with fiddle and guitar and almost thought I was too loud.  My overall point is that this is complicated (as is my rambling and somewhat disconnected post).  As Diggs says, there's the room, the audience, the player and the harp model.   I'd much rather play unamplified all the time, because what you then get is me and just me, but I'd also like to drink beer all the time too. ;-)  It ain't a perfect world!

Steve

http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/trad_irish_harmonica
HEAR my CD clips: http://www.gjk2.com/steveshaw/cd.htm
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